Combined rail-chair and splice-plate.



L. OSLER.

COMBINED RAIL CHAIR AND'SPLICE PLATE.

APPLICATIQN FILED JAN. 12, 1318.

1,281,199, Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

LOUIS OSLER, OF FORT MORGAN, COLORADO.

COMBINED RAIL-CHAIR AND SPLICE-PLATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

Application filed January 12, 1918. Serial No. 211,571.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, LoUIs OsLER, a citizen of. the United States of America, residing at Fort Morgan, in the county of Morgan and State of Colorado, have invented new and useful Improvements in Combined Rail- Chairs and Splice-Plates, of which the following is a specification.

The invention seeks to provide, as its principal object a combined rail chair and splice plate in which rails are tied together and suitably held in place at their connecting ends.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character adapted to lie against the rail on the outside of the track and to extend to the upper edges of the rails on the sides opposite those engaged by the flanges of the wheels, this extending upper edge of the device lying substantially flush with the tread of the rails, thereby protecting the latter against distortion by bending of the car wheels as the car passes over one rail to another.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fish plate for insertion between the device and the track rails on the inside of the track, the bolts which connect the rails wlith the device passing through the said fish p ate.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a rail chair which when not connect ed to the rails, tends to spring away therefrom, the operation of connecting the device to the rails necessitating the clamping of the device against the rails against the natural resiliency of the device.

Other and further objects will appear as the invention is set forth in detail in the description which follows.

To the exact form in which it is shown and described, the invention is not to be restricted. The right is reserved to make such changes and alterations as practice may suggest, in so far as such changes oralterations may be compatible with the spirit of the subjoined claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention, showing it connecting the ends of two adjacent rails.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view.

Referring to the drawings, there are shown two rails 1 which are connected together by means of the improved rail chair which comprises a base portion 3 with upstanding portions 4 and 5 which are integrally connected to the base portion. The base portion together with the two upstanding portions is so shaped that the general cross sectional outline of the chair as a whole follows closely the general cross sectional outline of the rails which the chair connects together, the chair being in surrounding relation of the webs and flanges of the rails where it connects the two rails together.

The upstanding portion 4 of the chair terminates at the bottom of the tread of the rails extending up no farther than the webs of the rails. The upstanding portion 5,however, is provided with a further upstanding portion 6 which is adapted to lie on the outside of the tread portion of the rails, the upper edge of the upstanding portion 6 being substantially flush with the upper or tread surface of the rails.

The base portion 3 of the chair is provided with holes 2 through which suitable spikes are designed to be passed in attaching the chair to the ties of the track. Between the upstanding portion 4 and the webs and flanges of the rails an L-shaped plate member 7 is designed to be inserted and the rails and this plate member are attached to the chair by means of appropriate bolts 8 which pass transversely through the rails, through the plate member 7 and through the upstanding portions 4 and 5 of the chair.

Before attachment to the rails, the base 3 and its upstanding portions 4 and 5 are so designed that the upstanding portion 4 tends to spring away from the webs of the rails before the chair is attached to the latter.

This tendency on the part of the upstanding portion 4 to spring away from the rails makes it easy to apply the chair to them, since the chair will engage the rails loosely, and after the L-shaped plate 7 has been put in position the bolts 8 are inserted through the upstanding portions of the chair and through the webs of the rails and screwed down in place, the screwing down of the bolts offsetting the tendency of the upstanding portions 4 to spring away from the rails and clamping this latter portion down against the plate member 7 and forcing it into contact with the webs of the rails.

In practical application, the chair is applied by first sliding it over the end of one rail and then placing that rail and the adjoining rail in position, when the chair is slid back to the position where it engages the ends of both the adjoining rails. The plate 7 is then placed in position by insertion be-- tween the upstanding portion t of the chair and the webs of the rails, when the bolts 8 are applied as before described, to clamp the chair and the plate into engagement with the rails. v

When it is necessary to remove any one rail for replacing, the bolts 8 are first removed. The resiliency of the chair and its attendant upstanding portions 4 and 5 then permits the chair to spring away from the rails leaving the plate member 7 loose to be withdrawn, when the chair itself will be only in loose engagement with the rails and may be easily slid out of position after its spikes have been removed, so that the end of ijgfhe rail which it previously engaged may be ree.

base portion in such a manner that it tends normally to spring away from the rail web,

the base portion being provided with holes for attachment to a tie by means of spikes, an L-shaped plate for insertion between the inner upstanding portion and the web and flange of a rail, and bolts passing transversely through the upstanding portion and through the L-shaped plate, whereby the chair may be affixed to a tie and support and secure together the ends of two adjacent rails.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

' LOUIS OSLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. i 

